Recent content by skortjorkson

Use a big, healthy yeast culture, and make sure your water has a lot of calcium in it!

As good as many beers you can buy, occasionally better ; )

I'm curious about your troubles getting the beer to clarify, it seems to be the main problem people have with this yeast, but it didn't happen to me at any point over many batches. I always thought it was just because I was harvesting the krausen instead of trying to wait for it to sink, but you...

I reckon your 24oz of yeast should be enough for two 5-gallon batches of moderate-OG ale, there, z-bob! I've not had problems with under-pitching with this strain at that ratio of krausen to wort. And welcome to the top-cropping party!

Probably easier to say which hops don't go well with malty beers! The only times it's been an issue for me has been with citrusy bittering hops in a more savory beer, like a brown ale. Grapefrut rind or bitter lemon flavors can really make a roasty ale taste like stomach acid! Of course...

Yeah, man! I reckon the beer you speak of would be rockin' with some K-97. It's very much the type of beer I enjoy making and drinking. Give it a go and report back! The body of anecdotes about this yeast (and, I would argue, this type of yeast generally) is too small, every experience with...

I think you're on the right track with the adjuncts! Bringing a stash of amylase enzymes is brilliant, so even in a malty emergency you could crank out SOMETHING fermentable. You might also think about familiarizing yourself with the malting process, as raw barley may well be more available...

Hello! To begin with, I would like to mention the package and marketing. I originally purchased K-97 online without being able to read the package, and it was being marketed as 'German Ale'-- you can imagine my surprise when it came and the text read "German ale yeast selected for fine...

UPDATE: After doing a lot of drinking and a little bit bottling, there were a couple of other notes I wanted to add, the first being about the flavor of the yeast. When fully matured, the yeast character in the paler beers I brewed with it reminded me of something I couldn't quite place...

The answer you're probably looking for is S-33 or an equivalent Belgian ale yeast. That is all.

Hello! I've been practicing high-gravity brewing lately, brewing 10 gallons of wort and diluting it to 15 gallons in the fermentor. I'm planning on doing a baltic porter next, and want it to be quite dark. I use Beersmith for my recipe calculations, and am already aware that hop...

Hello all! Given the lack of resources out there about this yeast, I thought I'd write a review of it. First, there are a couple of things about the brewing context that need to be kept in mind-- I go for a rustic approach to my brewing, as I live far away from a homebrew store and abhor...

I was literally just logging on to write a review of M47-- I brewed four different beers with it in the last couple of months and had been planning to write up my findings, as there weren't any good reviews out yet when I purchased it. Should have the post up soon!

Yeah... not having a pH meter in this situation kinda sucks, it would make things a lot easier. I probably will just throw in the hops and calculate how much acidulated malt I need to get in the right range, but in the future might do an experiment (with pH meter) to figure out the effect...

Hello! I'm setting out to brew an IPA with some hard water this week, and had been considering adding some of my spare older hops to the mash tun to try to get some flavor out of them and help my lautering a bit. It's also my first time brewing with this water source, which has a hardness...